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Sparkle (1)
For film brats, having a movie at Sundance is pretty much the holy grail. It's where indie and hip go mainstream overnight, but it's okay, because you sold your film at Sundance. And dude, don't get me wrong. It IS okay. I'd probably let someone snip off a digit or two if it meant my movie would premiere at the Eccles with throngs of people willing to wait for hours in the snow for a mere chance at a seat on a cold January night.
My first Sundance was the 2003 festival -- I was freshly out of film school, and went with delusions of premiering my recently wrapped short film there the following year. I didn't know many people in the film industry. The couple of people that I'd interned for were mostly people I'd be too terrified to approach in public...the likes of George Clooney and Harvey Weinstein (or more accurately, their assistants). But I drove up with three friends, crashed at a time-share condo belonging to the mother of the actor who'd starred in my short, and waitlisted for every movie on the 2003 roster, catching such festival darlings as Thirteen, Pieces of April, Irreversible, and All The Real Girls, and the shorts of then fledgling directors Angela Robinson, Seith Mann, and Frank E. Flowers all of which catapulted them into feature films the following year.
All and all, it was a pretty good festival. I left feeling all aglow with the indie spirit, and returned home ready to pound the pavement and find my first real Hollywood job.
Cut to 2011. (Get it? CUT TO? LIKE A MOVIE!) We arrive in Park City late the first Friday of the festival, knowing we've only got until Sunday morning to take it all in. Our host informs us that despite having tickets, she was turned away from two films that afternoon, so there's really no point in waitlisting for any of the premieres that night unless we want to drive back down to the MultiPlexes in Salt Lake City from whence we came.
So instead we pour over the festival catalogue. The selections are juicy this year, a solid mix of celebrity passion projects and real-old-fashioned-indie-films, and there is a lot I want to see. Unfortunately, by noon the following day, it becomes abundantly clear that we'll be lucky if we can even catch ONE film at the sold-out festival. Which we did, manage to catch one.
And although I recently mentioned it in my list of top five favorite movies because it's that good, it's worth gushing over just a little more.
The Music Never Stopped is the directoral debut of Producer Jim Kohlberg and man, did he conduct that symphony in perfect harmony. He guided his stellar cast to perfection -- J.K. Simmons, Lou Taylor Pucci, Julia Ormand, and the revelatory Cara Seymour all gave the performances of their careers. And despite having a soundtrack that could raise Jerry Garcia from his grave, there isn't an overindulgent beat in the whole damn film. I laughed. I cried. I laughed while I cried. And when it was over, we got to listen to the surviving members of the Grateful Dead talk about why they were so personally invested in this movie. (Hint: It's based on a real life Case Study by Oliver Sacks called "The Last Hippie.") If it's not on the Oscar shortlist for 2012, well then I just don't know what.
From there, the best I can do is tell you which movies I DIDN'T get to see at Sundance, but really wanted to. So here goes.
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey: Okay, so maybe it's because my kid is obsessed with Elmo right now, but this Documentary from director Constance Marks follows the career and anonymous celebrity of Kevin Clash -- the voice of Elmo -- and I was desperate to see it. Rightfully, the film took the Special Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary category. I mean seriously...how lovable is this guy?
Also in the Documentary competition, Morgan Spurlock returned
